El Dorado, The Mystery of The Lost City of Gold

Allegedly, El Dorado is a very rich town in South America. All-round daily supplies were made of gold. In fact, the king’s body was covered with gold dust. The legendof gold and precious gemsare buried in it, and always discussed until now. Is it true that the city of El Dorado were full of gold and jewels that ever existed?

The meaning of the words “El Dorado” actually is a human being who gildedwith gold. It is told that there is a place in a city that is very prosperous, so the King covered his body with gold dust and swimming in the lake of gold. Because of the legend, then many adventurers from Europe who came to hunt down treasureand browse using the name, “El Dorado Expedition”. One of them was an explorer named Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada. He along with 500 soldiers who led the search for the lake and the city that exists in the legend of “El Dorado”.

In the middle of the hunt, Quesada find a rich Chibca tribe. But he did not find the king and leaves which full of gold. The tribe told him about the ceremony in Guatavita lake that existed in the Andes, Bogota. According to this story, every year in the lake there is a mysterious rites. Before worship begins, the king anointshis body with mud, and then overlaidwith gold dust. Then the king along with the elders paddlingraftscarrying gold and precious gems to the middle of the lake. Arriving in the middle of the lake, gold and precious gems were thrown into the lake as an offering. Then the king jumped into the lake to cleanse his body from gold dust and mud.

Hearing that story, Quesada and his soldiers immediately seek Guatavita lake as it has been described by the Chibca tribe. The search was in fact not in vain. They found the Lake Guatavita. Next, after the lake drained, wow … they succeed to get 18 kilograms of gold.

Well, from the legends and stories of the El Dorado explorers, researchers are trying to solve this mystery. The study was conducted by studying the ancient manuscriptsand various archaeologicalstudies. According to the researchers, for the tribe Chibca, gold is nothing more than just offering. Gold does not representthe symbols of wealthbetween them. How about 18 kilograms of gold being found in there? The researchers can not be sure that the golds came from El Dorado.

Vocabulary

allegedly

allegedly means that proof has yet to be produced

legend

a legend is a larger-than-life story that gets passed down from one generation to the next

gems

a gem is a precious or semi-precious stone, or a jewel

gilded

gilded is made from or covered with gold

prosperous

prosperous is in fortunate circumstances financially; moderately rich

treasure

treasure is a collection of precious things

tribe

a tribe is a traditional social group of people

rite

rite is an established ceremony prescribed by a religion or tribe

anoint

anoint is administer an oil or ointment to ; often in a religious ceremony of blessing

overlay

overlay is put something on top of something else

paddling

paddling is ride in a boat or canoe on water with paddle

raft

raft is a flat float (usually made of logs or planks) that can be used for transport or as a platform for swimmers

in vain

in vain means with no result, or to no effect

manuscript

manuscript is handwritten book or document

archaeological

archaeological means related to or dealing with or devoted to archaeology

represent

represent is somebody’s interest or be a proxy or substitute for; take the place of or be parallel or equivalent to

wealth

wealth is the state of being rich and affluent; having a plentiful supply of material goods and money